Disqualification
Notices to Bhajan, aides undelivered again
Chandigarh, January 17
For the second time, the notices for disqualification served upon rebel Congress leader Bhajan Lal and his aides, Dharampal Malik and Rakesh Kamboj, have come back undelivered.

‘Unauthorised’ visitors found on jail campus
Kurukshetra, January 17
The top brass of the state prisons department today found at least three visitors in the Kurukshetra district jail campus. They had ‘illegally’ come to meet a jail inmate there.

State to be $130 billion economy in next decade
Gurgaon, January 17
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said Haryana was targeting a growth rate of 11 per cent for the 11th financial plan, which would convert the state’s 30 billion dollars economy into 130 billion dollars in the next decade.

‘Water shortage’ killing animals
Yamunanagar, January 17
Every month five to seven sambars, cheetals, neelgaye and other animals of the Kalesar National Park and its adjoining forests in Uttar Pardesh were dieing because of water shortage in the jungles.

Excise mark soon on country-made liquor
Chandigarh, January 17
Country-made liquor may soon come marked with a seal of Haryana’s excise and taxation department while efforts will be made to lay down stringent guidelines to ensure sale of cheap quality country-made liquor in the state.

Mob lays siege to police station
Fatehabad, December 17
An agitated mob today laid siege to the city police station here, demanding the arrest of the persons who had attacked and seriously injured a local property dealer and his two nephews on January 13.

Students do a rehearsal for the Republic Day celebrations at Karan Stadium in Karnal on Thursday.
— A Tribune photograph

A girl sits atop a pile of twigs being transported in a rickshaw in Karnal on Thursday.
— Tribune photo by Ravi Kumar

Road blocked over water, power shortage
Rohtak, January 17
Today was an eventful day for the district, with residents blocking vehicular traffic at different places over different issues and villagers beating up two police personnel for “acting funny” after consuming liquor at a private function.

MDU regional centre for Mewat
Gurgaon, January 17
Mewat will soon have a regional centre of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, at Nuh. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda made this announcement while addressing a public meeting at Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat on Thursday.

No-Trust Motion
MC chief’s petition disposed of
Rewari, January 17
The Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday disposed of the writ petition, which was earlier filed by the chairman of the Rewari Municipal Council, Vijay Rao, as infructuous.

Mid-Day Meal Scam
10 officers suspended
Chandigarh, January 17
The Haryana education department today suspended 10 district and block-level officers for their alleged involvement in irregularities in purchases made for mid-day meals in government schools.

Dowry claims 3 lives
Yamunanagar, January 17
Geeta of
Dwarkapuri, who had allegedly consumed poison, died at a private hospital here today.

Wild red fowl free from bird flu
Yamunanagar, January 17
Amid reports of the deadly avian flu surfacing in new areas, three researchers engaged by the ministry of environment to carry out DNA finger printing of wild red jungle fowl and study their genetic purity found that the deadly bird flu has not touched the species.

Bid to kill girl: 2 held
Sirsa, January 17
The police today arrested two persons, Satbir and Parshotam, who had allegedly made a bid to kill a 19-year-old girl in the first week of the month in Rana here.

9 get life term for murder
Sonepat, January 17
Nine persons, including three women, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by additional district and sessions judge K.C. Sharma for murdering Inder Singh on June 26, 2002.

Liquor vends to be closed from Jan 19 to 21
Chandigarh, January 17
The Haryana excise and taxation department has issued closure orders of liquor vends, hotels, restaurants, clubs and other establishments selling or serving liquor from January 19 to 21 within the jurisdiction of the areas of municipal committees of Taoru in Mewat district, Haily Mandi and Pataudi in
Gurgaon, Kharkhoda in Sonepat, Kalanaur in Rohtak, Indri and Nilokheri in Karnal, Kalayat and Pundri in
Kaithal, Narnaund in Hisar, Siwani and Bawani Khera in Bhiwani and Beri in Jhajjar and in the adjoining areas in view of the general elections to these municipal committees scheduled to be held on January 20.
— TNS

Sushila heads women’s panel
Chandigarh, January 17
The Haryana government has nominated the chairperson and the vice-chairperson of the Haryana State Commission for Women. In a notification issued here today, Sushila Sharma of Hisar has been nominated the chairperson of the commission while Chander Prabha of Sonepat will be its vice-chairperson.
— TNS

Phenyl Case
Another child dies
Yamunanagar, January 17
Seven-year-old Aanchal, who had consumed phenyl on Tuesday along with two other children in Deha Basti of Jagadhri, died today. Guria (5) had died yesterday.
— TNS

Chandigarh, January 17
For the second time, the notices for disqualification served upon rebel Congress leader Bhajan Lal and his aides, Dharampal Malik and Rakesh Kamboj, have come back undelivered.

While the men in question have gone “missing” from their residences, none of their family members agreed to accept the notices sent by the Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian.

This time, the notices had been sent by the office of the Speaker through the respective SDMs of the districts of their residence. The notice sent to former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s Panchkula residence remained undelivered with the guard saying that the former was out of country and would be back only on January 20.

In his report sent to the Speaker, the SDM has stated that the notice to Gohana MLA Dharampal Malik, too, remained undelivered.

He added that at Malik’s residence, he was told that the suspended MLA did not stay there anymore and his family members refused to take the letter.

In a similar “excuse”, family members of the third Congress MLA from Indri, Rakesh Kamboj, who was served notice for disqualification and recently suspended from the party, said he was not at home and refused to take the notice on his behalf.

Sources said the SDMs had been asked to try again for the delivery of notices to the three MLAs and send in their report again tomorrow. However, if the district administration failed to hand over the notices again, the Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha will contemplate on the future course of action against the MLAs.

The petitioners, including Shadi Lal Batra, Jatinder Malik and Ramesh Gupta, in their complaint to the Speaker earlier this month, had alleged that since Bhajan Lal, Dharampal Singh Malik and Rakesh Kamboj were elected on a Congress ticket in the last Assembly elections, they had incurred “defection” by joining the Janhit Congress and were liable for disqualification as members of the Vidhan Sabha for voluntarily giving up membership of the original party (Indian National Congress).

They had demanded that the disqualifications should be effective from December 2 last year, the day they publicly announced their joining.

The Speaker, who received the petitions in person at his residence, said he would get them examined by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat and in his capacity as Quasi Judicial Tribunal, he would give his decision after considering all aspects, including giving a chance to the legislators whose disqualification had been sought to present their side of the story.

Subsequently, the notices were sent by registered post to the three MLAs, but returned undelivered after which the recourse of serving notices through the district administration was taken.

Sources said the Speaker might resort to advertising these notices in the papers before any steps to disqualify the MLAs were taken.

Kurukshetra, January 17
The top brass of the state prisons department today found at least three visitors in the Kurukshetra district jail campus. They had ‘illegally’ come to meet a jail inmate there.

State prisons officials said jail officials indeed had ‘favoured’ the visitors while fixing an unauthorised meeting.

The incident was reported just one day after the DG, prisons, laid down certain steps to improve the jail functioning.

Confirming the incident, IGP, prisons, M.S. Mann, who had raided the jail campus, said names of the three persons were not entered in the jail register.

“Necessary action will be taken against the jail officials after investigation as it was a clear case of violation of jail rules. It is simply not possible for any individual to enter the jail without the help of the jail official,” Mann added.

As per the jail manuals, it is mandatory to enter the names of the visitors who had come to meet the jail inmates.

He said an FIR would be lodged in the case and role of the jail staff would be scrutinised strictly. However, no case was registered till the filing of this report.

This is the second such incident and has further raised serious questions on the functioning of the prisons in the state.

On December 29, 2007, prisons officials found lapses in Sonepat jail. The sleuths found that certain prisoners were sent out of the jail without permission.

Though three jail officials, including the deputy jail superintendent, sub-assistant superintendent and the head warder, were arrested in the case, Sonepat jail superintendent Rai Singh Mandiwal is still absconding.

Gurgaon, January 17
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said Haryana was targeting a growth rate of 11 per cent for the 11th financial plan, which would convert the state’s 30 billion dollars economy into 130 billion dollars in the next decade.

He disclosed this at plenary session of Partnership Summit 2008 here today.

Dwelling upon the transformation of state from an agrarian state to a vibrant industrial economy, he highlighted the key initiatives and achievements of the state government on the fiscal management front, infrastructure including soft infrastructure and focus on education and health, industrial development and agriculture.

Giving an overview of the progress of the state, financial commissioner and principal secretary, industries, commerce and IT, P.K. Chaudhary said the leading sectors in the state, which also offered investment opportunities were IT and ITES, automobiles and auto components, food processing, high-end textile and leather fashion garments and accessories, drugs and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and incubation and development of frontier technologies would be a key focus area for the next decade.

Chaudhary also highlighted some of the key initiatives planned - the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, KMP global corridor, addition of about 5,000 MW of power capacities in the next three years, creation of industrial infrastructure, education city and the nano city.

Elaborating on the investor friendly climate in the state, Chaudhary said the state government had created a strong legal framework ensuring time bound clearances to projects, creation of industry portal where investors can track the status of clearances to their projects, emphasis on self certification and creation of single window mechanism.

Sharing Maruti’s experience with Haryana, R.C. Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said the company had grown from 1 lakh unit capacity to 1 million units over the past 25 years. This he said was a testimony to the state government’s support to industry.

Pawan Munjal, former chairman, CII northern region and managing director and CEO, Hero Honda Motors Ltd, said proximity to Delhi and the growth of the BPO sector had lead to a tremendous boom in the infrastructure and real estate sectors.

Yamunanagar, January 17
Every month five to seven sambars, cheetals, neelgaye and other animals of the Kalesar National Park and its adjoining forests in Uttar Pardesh were dieing because of water shortage in the jungles. In search of water they come out of the jungles and met accident with speeding vehicles on National Highway No 73 - A or drown in the western Yamuna canal or get killed by dogs tamed by people living in villages along the jungles, sources said. Hunters were also causing damage to the fauna.

Officials in the Haryana Wild Life Department admitted that animals were dying because of water shortage.

“Animals were dying unnatural death as they come out of jungles in search of water”, informed a wildlife official.

A sabar was run over by a speeding vehicle on the highway early this month and another had strayed into human population. Early this month, dogs had killed a neelgaye. The sources in the wildlife department admitted that these animals left their natural habitat in search of water. A team of the Zoological Survey of India, which had recently visited the jungles, had also pointed at the water shortage in the jungles.

Officials claiming to be acquainted with the terrain of the park spread over 11,570 acres said at present there was literally no natural source of water. The only source was Braha, a rivulet, which provides water in the bird sanctuary area of the jungles.

The matter was in the notice of senior wildlife officials, both of the state and Delhi. Panicked by the increasing number of deaths of animals, the Haryana Wildlife Department had started taking steps to increase water availability in the Kalesar forests and for the purpose a tubewell was dug in the jungles, but the Uttar Haryana Bijali Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) had failed to provide an electricity connection to the tubewell. The wildlife department has planned to connect the five water guzzlers in the national park with the tubewell. Besides, work was in full swing to dig four water bodies in the park with an aim to harvest rainwaters.

District forest official (DFO) Ravinder Dhankkar admitted that animals were dying unnatural death as they come in search of water out of the jungles. The Kalsear National Park has common boundaries with jungles in Himachal Pardesh, Uttrakhand and Uttar Pardesh and it was very difficult to keep a count of the animals.

Meanwhile, an 18-month-old female panther was shot down by hunters at the Kalesar National Park here near Chhuharpur in the wee hours.

Chandigarh, January 17
Country-made liquor may soon come marked with a seal of Haryana’s excise and taxation department while efforts will be made to lay down stringent guidelines to ensure sale of cheap quality country-made liquor in the state.

In a move to further liberalise the sale of liquor, the department can allow stores to sell beers, wines and champagnes on the lines of Chandigarh while doing away with ‘ahatas’ and replacing these with eating places of “some standard”.

Haryana finance minister Birender Singh said these suggestions, invited from the public, distillery owners and vendors, were under the active consideration for formulation of the next year’s excise and taxation policy.

“We successfully broke up the cartel of the liquor mafia in the policy unveiled by the Haryana government after coming to power. In our still-under-formulation latest policy, we want that the common man should be able to equally participate in the exercise of allocation of vends as any vendor already in the business,” he said, speaking to The Tribune.

While the emphasis is on production of quality country-made liquor, the government, through its new policy, wants to reduce the price even further to curb smuggling from adjoining states.

“Our rates are lower than any adjoining state, namely Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Barring Chandigarh where the prices of liquor are lower compared to our rates, smuggling of liquor is very much under control in Haryana,” the finance minister stated.

The suggestion for introducing seal on country-made liquor would not only check production of spurious liquor but would also help in identifying local distilleries, who evade payment of excise.

Hinting at a change of name of the ‘ahatas’ functioning alongside liquor vends, the finance minister was also of the view that liquor sale could be allowed from stores in the coming days.

These suggestions and many more under the active consideration of the department have come by way of a series of meetings organised in different districts of the state between the distillery and brewery owners and excise officials.

“These are only some of the recommendations under consideration. We are still in the process of making the draft excise policy,” the finance minister added.

Fatehabad, December 17
An agitated mob today laid siege to the city police station here, demanding the arrest of the persons who had attacked and seriously injured a local property dealer and his two nephews on January 13.

The mob, which included a large number of women, went back only after DSP Naripjit Singh assured them that the attackers would be arrested.

Atul, a local youth, was allegedly beaten up by two youths, Micky and Sachin, on January 13.

When his uncle, Leela Krishan, a property dealer, and his brother Goldie were returning from the local general hospital after a medical examination of Atul, the three were attacked by some persons carrying sharp-edged weapons.

The police had registered a case under sections 323 and 324 of the IPC, but had not arrested the attackers.

Perturbed over the attitude of the police, a large number men and women reached the local police station and laid siege to it.

They alleged that the police was hand in glove with the accused as the father of one of the accused was a “satta king” and had links with the police.

They also alleged that a “soft” case had been registered against the accused though the victims had received grievous injuries.

The mob refused to move till the accused were arrested.

The DSP pacified the mob by producing the fathers of both accused who apologised for the deeds of their sons before the mob.

Rohtak, January 17
Today was an eventful day for the district, with residents blocking vehicular traffic at different places over different issues and villagers beating up two police personnel for “acting funny” after consuming liquor at a private function.

Two police personnel of the CIA staff, Harpal and Rakesh, had gone to Bahu Jamalpur village of the district to attend some function. There, they allegedly created a scene after consuming liquor. The villagers tried to calm them for some time, but eventually ended up thrashing the duo.

The local officials faced another tough situation today when a team led by the District Town Planner (DTP) went on a drive to remove encroachments near the Sunarian Chowk area on the outskirts of the town.

The district authorities maintained that certain persons had encroached upon the land earmarked for the development of a HUDA sector. On the other hand, the residents claimed that they had been staying there for long and the colony was not unauthorised. The residents blocked the vehicular traffic in protest against the drive to raze the constructions there.

In yet another incident, residents of Bhaini Maharajpur village near Meham subdivision in the district blocked the Delhi-Hisar National Highway No. 10 to register their protest against the acute shortage of electricity and water prevailing in their area.

Gurgaon, January 17
Mewat will soon have a regional centre of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, at Nuh. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda made this announcement while addressing a public meeting at Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat on Thursday.

He said that to encourage girl education at the village level, a girls’ hostel would be constructed in every model school opened at the block level in the district.

The public meeting was organised in memory of Ch Azmat Khan, a former minister of Haryana who died in 1994.

While giving details of the steps taken by the government to promote girl education in Mewat, Hooda said 135 schools had been upgraded to the middle standard during the past 34 months. Five Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalyas had already been set up
in the district.

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the extension project of the Industrial Institute, Ferozepur Jhirkha, which would involve an expenditure of over Rs 3.95 crore, including Rs 2.66 crore on the purchase of machinery.

Hooda said a separate wing for students belonging to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes was being started under this extension project which would increase the number of seats from 336 to 560 after the completion of the work by March, 2009.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of a sports complex at Ferozepur
Jhirka.

Rewari, January 17
The Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday disposed of the writ petition, which was earlier filed by the chairman of the Rewari Municipal Council, Vijay Rao, as infructuous.

The court maintained that after Rao’s suspension on January 7 by director of the Haryana Local Bodies R.P. Bhardwaj, his petition seeking an injunction against the proposed motion of no confidence, which was to be taken up for voting on January 4, had become unproductive and ineffective.

It is pertinent to mention here that after 22 of the 31 municipal councillors had submitted their notice for a no confidence motion to the deputy commissioner, it was to be taken up for voting on January 4. However, on January 2, Vijay Rao filed a petition in the high court, which stayed proceedings on the proposed motion of no confidence, provisionally.

Bhardwaj suspended Rao on January 7 on charges of corruption and irregularities in development works carried out by him in the town.

Chandigarh, January 17
The Haryana education department today suspended 10 district and block-level officers for their alleged involvement in irregularities in purchases made for mid-day meals in government schools.

Education minister Mange Ram Gupta said the district education officers of Yamunanagar and Ambala, the district elementary education officers of Jhajjar and Panchkula, two block education officers of Yamunanagar and four of Jhajjar had been suspended for their alleged involvement in the scam.

He said the scam primarily involved the purchase of gas stoves for cooking mid-day meals in the government schools. The suspended officers had “bought” these stoves at rates much higher than the market rates.

After several rounds of inquiries, the department found these officers guilty of committing irregularities and took a serious view of the matter. The minister said that inquiries were on in other districts as well and action would be initiated against those found guilty of committing fraud.

On the issue of the recruitment of guest teachers to meet the shortage of staff in government schools, Gupta said a policy would soon be drafted in this regard for the next academic session.

Yamunanagar, January 17
Geeta of
Dwarkapuri, who had allegedly consumed poison, died at a private hospital here today.

In a statement before her death, Geeta said she got married to Sanjeev Kumar of Gulab Nagar. She alleged that she was harassed for dowry and was often beaten up by her husband. Geeta’s brother Bunty alleged that her in-laws allegedly poisoned her and later left her in Bartan Market here.

In another incident, Geeta of Mandhar village of Jathlana here was found dead at her in-laws’ house yesterday. The police has booked her husband and in-laws. Her parents said in-laws used to torture her for bringing less dowry.

Gurgaon: Kamlesh (29), a housewife and resident of the housing board colony, sector 7, allegedly committed suicide on Thursday. No suicide note was found at the place of the incident.

Police officials said Kamlesh’s husband, Sunil Pahwa, found her lying on a bed in the morning in her bedroom. The father of the deceased alleged that Kamlesh's husband and mother-in-law used to torture her for dowry.

Yamunanagar, January 17
Amid reports of the deadly avian flu surfacing in new areas, three researchers engaged by the ministry of environment to carry out DNA finger printing of wild red jungle fowl and study their genetic purity found that the deadly bird flu has not touched the species.

This lead to two conclusions - either the species is resistant to the H5N1 (bird flu virus) or the flu has not yet touched the fowl, said one of the researchers.

“We have been carrying the study on the wild red jungle fowl since 2006 in Shivalik belt of the country but till date we have not come across any fowl affected with the flu,” he said.

He said if the bird flue was not affecting the breed it could be cloned and crossbred which will be beneficial for the poultry industry.

Sirsa, January 17
The police today arrested two persons, Satbir and Parshotam, who had allegedly made a bid to kill a 19-year-old girl in the first week of the month in Rana here.

The police has booked four persons, including the father and relatives of the girl.

According to the police, Poonam, a student of class XII, had alleged that her father and relatives hatched a conspiracy and thrown her into a canal with an intention to kill her, as she wanted to marry a Dalit boy.

However, Poonam swam to safety and managed to reach Khersahida village, where she stayed at the residence of Jarnail Singh. Later, sarpanch of the village Malkit Singh had informed the police about the incident.

Sonepat, January 17
Nine persons, including three women, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by additional district and sessions judge K.C. Sharma for murdering Inder Singh on June 26, 2002.

According to information, families of Inder Singh and Ram Phal had an enmity over the possession of a village plot. On June 26, 2002, Ram Phal and his family members attacked Inder Singh with sharp-edged weapons, which led to his death.

A murder case was registered against Ram Phal, Jai Singh, Krishan, Balwan, Vijender, Jantari, Sevapati, Kishani and Sunder Singh in Baroda police station on the complaint of Raj Singh, a member of victim’s family.